24 Chances
by Girlsleuth
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts has passed, and so has a marriage law to keep the Wizarding race from dying out. When Ron is paired with one of his best friends, he has trouble letting go of Hermione. Can he let go and learn to love who he has?
1. The Letter

**A/N: Okay, so basically I saw this challenge, but I was too late to write anything for it. I thought it was an interesting concept, so I decided to write it anyway. It's interesting, because I made it between Ron and my OC, but later there's a bit of Ron/Hermione. Anyway, I'll try to be posting regularly. Enjoy!**

**Rating: K+ for now for minor swearing in later chapters. **

"Right, has everyone got a letter?" Professor McGonagall asked. The Great Hall murmured dully.

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Lily "Scout" Marshall sat around the Gryffindor table. Ron was hyperventilating, Hermione was Lamaze breathing, Harry was sweating and Scout was grasping her hair and scowling.

"I. Hate. This." She muttered. The four murmured in assent. The owls had arrived moments before, carrying their marriage letters. Harry had started sweating violently when Hedwig had dropped near him, carrying the envelope. Ron had started hyperventilating when Pig had flew into his porridge, and Hermione had downright screamed when a tawny owl had dropped into her toast. Scout's heart had started pounding faster than she thought was possible when her gray owl, Private, had dropped near her carrying her own letter. She had miserably took it from his beak and stroked his feathers absentmindedly as he nibbled her toast.

"Ronald Weasley, stop that, you'll break something." Hermione snapped sharply. Ron didn't stop.

"Hermione- you don't understand! I could be paired up with Loony Lovegood!" He whispered, still hyperventilating.

"Ron, shut up! We're not handling well ourselves." Harry said, sweating even more.

Millions of faces ran through their heads... Scout's head swam with names. Seamus. Dean. Neville. Malfoy. Goyle. Ernie. George. Lee. Oh God- what if she was paired with _Harry?_ She sighed. She wished Thomas wasn't a squib- he was her closest friend.

"Right. You all may open them in three...two... ONE!"

Sounds of envelopes ripping sounded in the great hall. Scout ripped open her own, took a deep, miserable breath, and looked at the paper.

_Dear _Miss Marshall_, _

_As you know, due to the overwhelming amount of wizards and witches lost in the Battle of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic decided to take upon a Marriage Law. Fortunately, you are eligible, as you are in the ages between 17 to 30. _

_We are delighted to inform you that you are to wed _Ronald Weasley. _Your wedding shall take place on _June 1st_, which is _1 month _from now. You are to conceive a child within one year of marriage. If you are to object to the marriage, you will have your wand destroyed and you will be banished from the magical world._

_Best wishes,_

_Ministry of Magic_

The hall was alive with sounds of delighted surprise and enraged wailing. One girl had jumped onto the Slytherin table and downright screamed.

Scout pressed her forehead against the table. _Ron. Ron? RON? As in her BEST FRIEND RON? _

"A- a _child-_" Hermione whimpered. Scout turned.

"Wh-who'd you get?" She whispered miserably.

Hermione was panicked. "_N-Neville."_ She whispered, horrified.

Scout smiled weakly. "Hey, I'll trade you."

"Why? Who-"

Hermione was interrupted after this by Harry's excited muttering. "Who'd you get, Harry?" Hermione inquired sadly.

He lifted his head happily. "Ginny. Amazing luck, huh?" He answered. "Why? Who'd you get?"

"Neville." Hermione answered. Harry gaped. They both turned to Scout.

"R-Ron." Scout muttered, not looking at them. They both gaped even harder, if it was possible.

"RON?" Hermione whispered, truly horrified now. Scout nodded grimly. She turned to look upon her future husband, who had fainted.

Harry walked over to Ron and pointed. "As in _this _Ron?" He asked. Scout nodded. "Blimey..." Harry said. "You- and Ron-married-child..."

Scout gasped miserably. "_CHILD?_" She screamed, and she fainted. A couple people turned, and a few minutes later Hagrid, who was coming by with a wheelbarrow full of unconscious students, gently lifted her and Ron into the wheelbarrow and departed to pick up some unconscious Hufflepuffs.

"They're going to make a great couple." Hermione observed, and Harry smirked.


	2. Awkward Pauses and Flying

**A/N: Just in case it wasn't clear, when we speak of Thomas, we speak of another of my OC, Scout's best friend (aside from Harry, Ron, and Hermione) who is a squib.**

**Enjoy chapter 2!**

**Chapter rating: K+ for minor swearing**

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><p>Scout lay in her bed hours later, pondering. None of the other girls were actually asleep, everyone was still much to excited or frightened. Poor Hannah Abbott, who had been paired with Goyle, had been forced to be taken to the hospital wing for a barrel of calming drought. She thought about Thomas... they'd kissed after she'd made it home from the Battle of Hogwarts. He'd told her he loved her... she'd slugged him, of course, but they had been dating when she had left for her final year. But now... Ron, married... become a parent...for Godric's sake, she was only 18!<p>

Oh, God... things would be so awkward with Ron. She had to tell Thomas. The thing was, the thing he was most afraid of was her marrying Ron or Harry. She pulled out her wand. "_Accio, Parchment! Accio, Quill!"_ She muttered.

_Dear Thomas, _

_We got our marriage letters today. Now, what I mean by that is that since so many wizards and witches were killed during the battle, they had to match us up with fellow students._

_Now, please don't get upset- believe me, I'm not too keen on this myself. I'm paired up with Ron. And we have to get married in a month. And have a kid within two years of being married. Now, please don't freak- I know you, Thomas. Believe me, I love you, but I have to do this, or else they snap my wand and I have to live in the muggle world forever._

_We've had so many great times together. I love you._

_Please stay in touch._

_Scout._

Early the next morning, Scout awoke to find that It was a cold, cloudy Saturday, which suited her mood perfectly, and the only thing she felt like doing was flying. She dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt and headed up to the Owlery, where she found her owl Private sitting on the end with his beak tucked under his wing.

"Private... PRIVATE." She muttered, prodding the great owl. He blinked, and gave her a perturbed look.

"Mission for you, soldier." The owl suddenly became more alert. "I need you to take this to Thomas. Now, be careful, Private. You're heading into extremely cold weather, and I want you to stay at Thomas's after you make the delivery for no less than three days. Good luck, Private. Safe flying." The gray owl took the letter and flew of into the horizon.

Scout sighed and decided to go down for breakfast- it wasn't exactly the normal breakfast time, but the Owlery and the Great Hall were on opposite ends of the castle, so it would be a bit before she got down there.

As she walked down the stairs, she discovered she'd left her wand in the dormitory, so she turned around and headed for the common room, muttering to herself angrily. "Password?" The Fat Lady sang.

"Fortuna Major." Scout recited. The portrait swung open, and she climbed inside, only to run smack into...Ron.

"Oh. Uh..."

They both blushed a dark crimson. Scout couldn't understand why she was blushing- he was still only _Ron_, at least for a month...

No, that wasn't true. He was _Ron_. Ron, her best friend who couldn't just be her best friend anymore... he was her fiancee. In 30 days, he'd be her husband, and in 364 days, they'd at least have a child. The deep red was spreading from Ron's cheeks and disappeared into his hair.

Scout cleared her throat awkwardly. "So...uh...you feeling better? I saw you had, uh... fainted last night..."

"Oh. Uh, that...yeah, I'm better...I guess..." He cleared his throat and looked away.

"Good." She replied, and they stood there for at least another minute, not daring to make eye contact. Finally, she said, "I, uh, was just here to get my wand. I was going downstairs when I realized I'd forgot it."

"Oh, well don't let me stop you," He hastily said, stepping aside. "I was just going to the Owlery."

"You should have let me know, I was just up there. I had to send a letter to my... uh, parents, to tell them what happened yesterday, with the marriage law and all."

Ron's face, which had slowly been returning back to normal, flamed up again in red at the mention of the letter. "Uh, yeah, that's what I was gonna do, too." He muttered.

"Oh, well, don't let me stop you." She said, and she awkwardly went to the staircase leading up to the dormitory. She stopped to watch Ron for a minute. He was still blushing furiously, and muttered something. All she caught 'wish, apparate, and Hogwarts.'

She went into the room and noticed her roommates had left for breakfast. As she retrieved her wand from her nightstand, she found she had lost her appetite.

A while later, Scout had taken her Comet Two-Sixty and headed out to the Quidditch pitch. She had been a chaser for a while, but then discovered she was equally matched with bludgers, and horrible at seeking. She had absolutely no patience with the little golden ball.

Up in the air, Scout's troubles seemed to vanish. She no longer thought of Harry and Ginny, Hermione and Neville, or Ron... Her hair whipped in the wind as she soared, diving and then pulling up, circling the pitch. She had almost completely forgotten about the marriage law when she saw Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigen passionately kissing under the stands. It was then that her anger returned, and she was revolted, knowing that she and Ron would soon be forced to do that.

Minutes later, she had came out with the Quidditch balls from the equipment room, and was chasing after the bludgers. _This one's for Rufus Scrimgeour for passing such a dumb-ass law. _She thought viciously as she whacked the ball as hard as she could and it went sailing towards the Black Lake.

Finally, after being pelted with one in the back twice, she descended to the stands. The bludgers began descending themselves, hurtling towards her like comets. At last she raised her wand and yelled, _"STUPEFY!". _The bludgers stopped suddenly, and fell to the ground, as limp as a boneless arm.

She sighed and trudged down the stands, not wanting to return to the castle where it was alive with buzzing couples holding hands and snogging, but to stay in the air on a broom, with the wind whipping her hair and forgetting about the stupid marriage law. She sadly packed up the bludgers and headed for the equipment room, knowing that the worst was yet to come.

And she was certainly right about that.


	3. Outbursts, Tension, and Plans Arise

**A/N: I'm a bit worried that Scout is a Mary-Sue... I've tried to round her off a bit more and make her less perfect, you know... aggressiveness, quick temper, impatience... if you have any suggestions, please PM me, or simply leave your thoughts in a review. Thanks to Cassia4u for reviewing!**

**Chapter rating: K+ for minor swearing.**

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><p>Back in the common room, the air was alive with unlikely couples. Hermione and Neville sat at a table, Hermione tutoring him as their hands rested together on the table. Harry and Ginny sat on the couch, all means of studying abandoned as they kissed, their books in piles on the floor. Seamus and Lavender, back from their 'walk' outside, were hidden from view in a corner, and the only couple in the room not doing something even remotely romantic was Scout and Ron.<p>

Ron sat in the back of the room by himself at a table, staring at Harry and Ginny with a disgusted expression on his face. "Look at them." He muttered as Scout sat down next to him. "Unbelievable. It's like they're eating their faces. This never would've happened if it wasn't for that bloody marriage law."

"Ron, you know that Harry and Ginny always had a thing for each other."

"Well, maybe, but we could've stopped it before it had developed into _this._" He gestured disgustingly at Harry and Ginny, who were almost on top of each other. "I can't take much more of these lovey dovey couples, especially..." He looked from Hermione to Ginny and Harry. "Damn the ministry, what else are they gonna force on us, a rule on what we eat?" He scowled. "This is complete hell."

"Oh, give it UP, Ron!" Scout said loudly. "I don't like this any more than you, but we're stuck with it. I know you still have feelings for Hermione, and you know I still love Thomas, but I'm coping with it, and I'm just so...bloody...tired of you moping around everywhere!"

"Well, maybe I'm sick of you, too! You're always sneaking off to that damn Owlery to send love letters to that bloody squib boyfriend of yours, maybe you should just go back to the muggle world where you belong!" He shouted.

"Maybe I will! They still treat me better than you do! Maybe I'll just let them snap my wand!" She yelled back.

"Fine! See if I care!"

"FINE!" She grabbed her bag and stormed towards the door. She turned, and for a split second saw the entire room now staring at her before she yelled "_Levicorpus!"_ Ron was hoisted into the air by his ankle, and before he had a chance to hex her back, she had disappeared through the portrait hole and into the dark corridors of the castle.

The days passed, and the couples had gotten more intimate than ever. Everyone's dates had gone smoothly, and everyone (save Hannah Abbott, who recently had been petrified when Goyle had kissed her) began appreciating their matches.

...Except Ron and Scout, who still had barely spoken to each other since the outburst in the common room.

Scout had began to worry about this, and it showed in practically everything she did- her grades dropped, she became more aggressive each day, and people had stopped hanging around her due to how ofter her temper was prone to exploding. Hermione finally decided to confront her in the library, which had recently become her fortress. She decided to drag Harry along and went up to Scout.

"Scout, we need to talk." Harry said. Scout looked up from her Astronomy book.

"Oh, finally remember me, did you?" She asked coldly. "Did you two finally remember that _other_ people aside from Neville and Ginny exist? Finally remember you two haven't spoken to me ever since that stupid marriage law?" It was mostly true- Harry and Hermione _had_ been preoccupied with their fiancees.

Harry scratched his neck and Hermione avoided eye contact nervously. "Oh, Scout, I'm sorry!" Hermione finally said, realizing that she had even been putting homework aside for Neville. "It's just that... it's hard getting used to it, I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright," Scout grunted, turning back to her book.

"We wanted to ask you how...things...are going with Ron."

"Oh." Scout hid behind her astronomy book so they couldn't see her blush. "Fine."

"Really?" asked Harry suspiciously. Scout gulped and didn't reply.

"So have you kissed yet?" Hermione asked.

Scout screeched and toppled back over her chair. She hastily got up. "Er, I mean-"

"Scout." Harry looked at her, failing to suppress a small smile. "I hate to tell you this, but..."

"...You and Ron are the only couple who haven't kissed, let alone said more than three words to each other since the letters, except for your...outbursts in the common room. Have you even been on a date yet?" Hermione asked.

Scout mumbled something about not wanting to disturb Ron.

Hermione took the chair next to Scout. "Scout, I really don't want you banished from the wizarding world. But how can you expect to be married to Ron in less than three weeks when the prospect of holding hands terrifies you?" She took a deep breath. "I know it'll be hard. I know, I can imagine being disgusted about being married to your best friend. And the truth is, I still love Ron, and I can imagine you still have feelings for Thomas. But I'm learning to accept Neville. Try to look for the good in Ron."

"How can I when the bloody git can't even look at me without yelling at me to 'go back to the muggle world where I belong'?" Scout hissed angrily. Hermione sighed, and Harry cleared his throat.

"Scout, there are things I was scared to death of doing, like facing down Voldemort, but I can't imagine what you'd have to go through. A really good quality you have is your bravery, you know- try to be daring when it comes to Ron." Harry advised.

"I've had enough of this." Scout scooped up her wand and books and marched out of the library.

Hermione sighed. Then a good idea popped into her head. "Harry- we have a mission now. We need to get Scout and Ron at the point where they can at least hold hands or something without fainting. First, we need to actually get them on speaking terms again, and I just thought of a plan!" She whispered into his ear.

A short pause followed as he let that sink in. "Hermione, sometimes you can be such a know-it-all, but at times like this, I'm really glad of that." He finally said, and she beamed.

"Thanks- I'll take Scout, you take Ron, and then we'll switch." She immediately hurried off to get new parchment paper and Harry chuckled.

Things might just shape up.


	4. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hey, guys.

First off, thanks SO much to RoseWeasleyRoxx, Cassia4u, locklisskeys, Slytherin Sweetheart97, and fantasyluver714 for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts- you guys are the best. Siriusly. And I apologize for the long hiatus. Had it not been for you guys, this story would have been abandoned long ago.

As it is, I'm back! Yay!

Right, then- onto business.

I realized that I have learned a lot since the beginning of 24 Chances, and have therefore decided to revise and continue it in a second edition version. I'll leave this one up for those of you who want it here as a link to my profile/other stor/y/ies. Starting as soon as I have free time, I'll post the first chapter or so on a new story and leave another note with a link here. Expect it by the first of December, or a week from that at the very latest.

Thanks again to all of you who made this possible. I owe you everything.

Sincerely,

Girlsleuth.


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